The present invention relates in general to a vehicle toll collection system, and it more particularly relates to such a vehicle toll collection system, which enables a vehicle to be charged a toll without requiring that the vehicle come to a complete stop and deposit money.
Toll roads have become very popular, because they offer a convenient and equitable scheme for financing the construction of roadways. In this regard, drivers of vehicles using the roadway pay a small sum of money as a toll, and the toll has been collected at various different stations along the roadway. These stations have included toll booth and automatic collection devices, whereby a vehicle must come to a complete stop adjacent the station and pay the toll by depositing currency with the toll booth operator or in the automatic collection device. Once the toll has been paid, a light or gate or other such warning device indicates to the driver of the vehicle that the correct amount has been paid and the vehicle is free to proceed on down the tollway. While such toll collection systems have been satisfactory for some applications, it would be highly desirable to have a toll collection system which is faster and more efficient. In this regard, with present toll collection techniques, long lines of vehicles have caused unwanted and undesirable delays at the toll stations since the vehicles are required to come to a complete stop at the toll station to pay the toll and are then required to wait until the permission is granted to proceed on further. With more and more vehicles in use at the present time, the lines are becoming longer and the problem is becoming acute. Such present day toll collection techniques are particularly troublesome to truck drivers, since they are required to maintain shipping schedules. Perhaps the most serious problem associated with present day inefficient toll collection techniques is the waste of valuable fuel energy during the long delays encountered at the toll station. When automobiles, trucks and other vehicles are forced to wait in line at the toll stations, huge quantities of fuel are wasted each year. Therefore it would be highly desirable to eliminate these unwanted and unnecessary delays associated with the collection of tolls for the conservation of energy as well as providing for a more efficient toll collection arrangement.
Therefore, the principal object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved toll collection system, which greatly facilitates the collection of vehicle tolls along a tollway.
Briefly, the above and further objects of the present invention are realized by providing a vehicle toll collection system which includes at least one elongated vehicle lane indicia for indicating a predetermined path of travel for the vehicles therealong over a roadway, and a plurality of mobile vehicle identification sending units adapted to be mounted on the vehicles for sending vehicle identification information. A stationary control unit is disposed near the entrance to the lane indicia for receiving the identification information from vehicles equipped with the mobile units as the vehicles move past to register their identification for toll collection purposes. A vehicle detection device is disposed at the lane indicia for supplying a vehicle present signal to the stationary control unit. The stationary control unit is responsive to the vehicle present signal and a vehicle failing to send its vehicle identification information for generating a vehicle warning signal. A warning device is disposed near the vehicle lane indicia and is responsive to the warning signal for indicating that a vehicle has not been registered. Thus, as equipped vehicles drive past the stationary control unit, vehicle identification information is registered therein so that the owners of such vehicles can be charged for the tolls by the toll authority without requiring the vehicles to stop and pay the toll, thereby eliminating or at least decreasing greatly the unnecessary and unwanted delays. Should a vehicle not be equipped with a mobile unit or the unit is defective or otherwise not functioning properly, the warning device is energized to cause the vehicle to stop and pay the toll in a conventional manner.